In the care of contact lenses of various kinds, i.e., soft, hard, gas permeable, etc., a sterile environment is required where the lens can be disinfected and/or stored. This sterile environment usually means soaking the contact lens in a disinfecting or sterile solution. This is especially important in the care of soft contact lenses made of hydrophilic polymeric materials. These soft hydrophilic lenses require regular disinfecting. Additionally, when not in the eye they need to be stored in either a disinfecting solution or sterile saline solution in order to maintain their hydrated state. It is desirable for the contact lens wearer to have a readily accessible container for the safe disinfection and/or storage of the contact lenses.
Various designs of contact lens containers have been disclosed by others. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,053,208 to Seamons, et al. discloses a contact lens disinfecting kit having an open-top lens container, an elongated piercer mounted in the lens container in an upright position such that the piercer divides the interior of the lens container into two separate contact lens receiving ports. The Seamons, et al. device requires elaborate effort of piercing the compartment before using the container and moreover, it does not have a resealable top.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,691,820 to Martinez discloses a molded blister package for storing and dispensing a hydrophilic contact lens having a base portion which includes a cavity surrounded by an outstanding flange and a sheet cover sealed to the flange to enclose the cavity. The Martinez package is mainly used for shipping and dispensing contact lenses and is not amenable to reclosure once the package is opened and sterility lost.
Numerous other patents were issued on permanent contact lens containers, for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,532 to Ives, U.S. Pat. No. 4,578,566 to Bowen, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,743,738 to Ryder, et al. These permanent contact lens containers are equipped with heating devices and therefore are not disposable.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a contact lens container for holding contact lenses and contact lens treatment solutions that is readily accessible and can be carried around by the contact lens wearer.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a container for holding contact lenses and contact lens treatment solutions that is readily accessible and is reusable.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a container for contact lenses that is prefilled with contact lens treatment solutions that can be easily used by the contact lens wearer to clean, disinfect, and store contact lenses.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a container prefilled with contact lens treatment solutions equipped with a recloseable and resealable top such that the container may be used once or may be used several times.
It is another further object of the present invention to provide a container prefilled with contact lens treatment solutions to be used by a contact lens wearer for the cleaning, disinfecting, and storing of contact lenses and then discarded after one use or several uses.